We giggle, chatter and flit around like nervous sparrows in the shadowy wings as the group two dances before us continue their routine. They leap and twirl slightly out of sync just in time for the stage lights to dim. When the lights have completely gone out, and the audience has fallen into a dead hush, the next girl bounces onstage. The lights reflect off of her glittering costume, sending sparkles everywhere when the stage begins to glow a rosy pink. “Oooooooooh! What a niiiiiiiiiiight!” The poppy beat starts dramatically as the girl shimmies, gesturing for the rest to arial onstage. “Oh my gosh! We’re next! Can you believe it!?” Chloe whispers excitedly. “Ohhhh it’s on ladies! Gonna be hard to beat us with that!” Kendall chuckles quietly as one of the girls slips out of a grande jete. “I promise we will do FABULOUS!” I laugh softly, hooking pinkies with Maddie. “Pssshhhh! That’s practically my middle name!” She jokes, causing the backstage attendants to shush her rudely. “Geez lighten up woman. It’s show day…” Mackenzie mutters sassily as we burst into smothered giggles. Nia, Brooke, Paige, Chloe, Maddie, Kendall, Mackenzie, and I all snort in an un-ladylike fashion and make more stupid remarks about people not being so uptight. Suddenly, we hear lots of cheering and clapping, then silence as we hustle onstage quickly.
“Show time girls—show em’ what you’re made of.” I murmur as the rest of the team grins and pastes on sassy faces.
The stage begins to lighten, it’s glow brightens to a soft purple. Our costumes twinkle and glitter. They are lavender flowy dresses, a tight fitting top with a swoosh of shimmery silk that crosses our body and spills out as a thin, flippy skirt. It is longer on our right hip, and cut shorter on the left, where a flower of silk sits nestled amongst the bunched folds. Our hair is twisted into intricate, tight buns, wrapped in a perfect braid. On the right side of our buns, an identical flower to the one on our dresses is tucked neatly into it.
Chloe and I triple pirouette into a calipso, from there we pique turn to center stage and she lifts me by my waist. High in the air, I arch my head back and perform a flawless right splits as she twirls me around three times and sets me gently down again. Together we do gorgeous leg turns and extend our arms out to the other girls. Mackenzie, Brooke, and Maddie arial in perfect sync while Paige, Kendall, and Nia Russian behind them. Then all of the group begins to do a series of turns; first, five turns in second, then a quadruple pirouette, we slide easily into two illusions, finishing it off with three more turns in second and a fan kick. Our arms are as graceful as swans, reaching and dipping in glamorous arcs. Our legs are sharp and smooth at the same time, like knives that slice the air but curve and curl into twisty, glorious shapes. Our faces shine with emotion and our eyes glisten with pure bliss. Half of our small company back walkovers and then whirls around to switch leap with lovely point-tipped toes. The other half of us flips over into handstands, with their legs set into gorgeous middle splits. They walk to the back of the stage on their hands and fall into a bridge. They kick over and layout kick.
The crowd remains in a mesmerized trance, their eyes glitter as they stay fixed upon the stage. We can see the purple glow shimmer on their faces, which look pale from the light. My own face beams with joy and my eyes fill with happy tears as we perform our grand finale. I glide to center stage, Kendall and Brooke appear behind me. They stand, faces tipped to the side, one hand over their heart, one leg pointed in tondue as they slide into a deep lunge. I kick my right leg up to my ear, catching it in my hands. Then, I proceed to perform six fabulous leg turns and calipso out of it. The two girls behind me copy my moves as I then slip into a splits. All of the other girls surround us in a large circle. They cartwheel offstage, then the three of us left behind do our quick trio.
Brooke does one turn in second, Kendall follows, then I do as we do 10 turns in second together. We jump out into a middle splits, then roll out and stand. We all do a firebird leap and file offstage just as the purple fades to black.
The roar that comes after the brief silence is deafening. We can see one person stand and clap, cheering wildly. Then another, and soon everyone does the same. All of us shuffle onstage again and bow deeply, noses brushing our knees. The audience is wild; slapping their palms together in a tremendous crescendo. People scream out our names which they have found in the programs and some even jump and shout things like, “we love you!” And, “that’s how we do it ladies!”
In the center of the roaring crowds, we spot our moms, all holding up a fabric sign painted with our names is bold, sparkly letters. My mom pushes through the audience to the front, and tosses each of us a red Rose tied with a white ribbon.
Then, she disappears. Moments later, she reappears onstage with seven other stage attendants carrying bulging sacks. They position themselves behind each one of us and promptly open the bags.
Piles and piles of my favorite candy spills out onto my head and we are all laughing. Everybody laughs and we share this happiness together.
